Question about Hopbacks

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Suthrncomfrt1884
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Question about Hopbacks

Post by Suthrncomfrt1884 »

Awhile back, I built a hopback for use with my counterflow chiller. For those of you who don't know what they are, it's put inline with your chiller and the hot wort runs through fresh hops to introduce a huge hop aroma and flavor.

I've had a lot of success with my IPA's using this thing, but I'm wanting to explore a little more.

I thought I had read something once about someone hooking a hopback up to their keg and pumping beer through it staight into the glass. Maybe at this point it wasn't called a hopback...so I'm looking for someone to tell me what it may or may not be called.

Either way, has anyone on here ever done this? I'm thinking of maybe making a mini version that will hook up to my faucet tap on the kegerator. Would this just put too much pressure on the faucet and make the beer rediculously foamy?

Any input would be great... I just want more fresh hop flavor right as I'm drinking it.
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wottaguy
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RE: Question about Hopbacks

Post by wottaguy »

The device you are seeking is called a "Randall", pioneered by Dogfish Head Brewing.

Here's some info on it:

http://www.dogfish.com/company/tangents ... animal.htm

Hope this helps!

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billvelek
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"Randall" is interesting.

Post by billvelek »

I'm not sure that "Dogfish Head" can legitimately claim to have 'invented' this device because I'm positive that I've read, years ago, about various homebrew clubs doing something similar at club meetings. What is interesting is that there is a commercial use of that, since I would presume that there are undoubtedly some rather extreme variations in the effect of the "Randall" between the first several draughts and the last several draughts. Inconsistency is usually not good for commercial products. Other than that, it is a great idea for hop heads.

Cheers.

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Post by mule »

Here you go, these guys are the cheapest on the net for plastic filter housings. I use these anywhere from water filtering in our company house (little town w/ bad pipes) to fish tank filters. For the price, you can't go wrong.
http://www.globalindustrial.com/gcs/pro ... ctInfo.web

Payback for helping me with the hops tasting....
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Suthrncomfrt1884
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Randall the enamel animal

Post by Suthrncomfrt1884 »

I was going through old posts when I stumbled across this one. I had completely put this project off to the side and it was time to revive it.

After searching around town for the basic parts, and trying my darndest to get local metal suppliers to give me a 10" piece of SS tube for less than $40, I'm finally done with my randall.

I ended up finding a cheap whole house filter housing from waterfilters.net that looks to be perfect.

After my failed attempts searching for a stainless steel center tube, it finally hit me. I had just cut open several kegs for my AG setup and I still hadn't gotten around to chopping and tossing the dip tubes. It was suprisingly a perfect fit. I've also taken advice from the Maltose Falcons website and added a T barb into the line so that I can try the beer with and without the randall at the same time.

I'm thinking of stuffing it with fruit at some point and infusing some other types of beers. My IPA is already clocking in at 115 IBU's without the randall, so this should be an interesting experience.

I will be using it on saturday the 27th so I'll post pictures after that for anyone who is interested.
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Post by shaggyt »

Suthrncomfrt1884...so how did your Randall work out?

What hops did you use? Did you compare your IPA with and without?
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Suthrncomfrt1884
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Post by Suthrncomfrt1884 »

I almost forgot about this post. I've got pictures taken, I just need to get them off of my phone.

It worked great! I was completely shocked. I do need to make a few minor adjustments to it because it leaked a little bit, but other than that, it was delicious.

The IPA was actually designed for the Randall, so I think I may have help back a little bit on the aroma hops with that in mind. We tried it the day before we attatched the randall and it tasted good, but not what I was aiming for.

As soon as we attatched the randall, it was exactly what I wanted. I only added .75oz's of Centennial to the thing, but it was like an explosion of hop flavor and aroma. I won't do another IPA without it. The reason we only did .75oz's of Centennial was because we also added fresh oranges and pineapple to it. Next time, I will leave the fruit out, because we could barely taste it over the hops. I'll get the pictures posted as soon as I can. I have build pictures posted here....

blogs.homebrewtalk.com/suthrncomfrt1884
Primary - Belgian Dubbel, Belgian IPA
Secondary - Cherry Lambic
Bottled - Bourbon Barrel Coffee Porter, Double Chocolate Raspberry Stout, Imperial Nut Brown, Apfelwein, American Amber Ale w/Homegrown Hops, Breakfast Stout
Kegged - Bass Clone, ESB
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Suthrncomfrt1884
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Post by Suthrncomfrt1884 »

After looking through my phone, I realized I only had one really good picture. After a few pints of double IPA, my camera skills seem to have gone down hill. Here's the good one.

Image
Primary - Belgian Dubbel, Belgian IPA
Secondary - Cherry Lambic
Bottled - Bourbon Barrel Coffee Porter, Double Chocolate Raspberry Stout, Imperial Nut Brown, Apfelwein, American Amber Ale w/Homegrown Hops, Breakfast Stout
Kegged - Bass Clone, ESB
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